Treatment of Primary Pulmonary Aspergillosis: An Assessment of the Evidence.

Aspergillus spp. are a group of filamentous molds that were first described due to a perceived similarity to an aspergillum, or liturgical device used to sprinkle holy water, when viewed under a microscope. Although commonly inhaled due to their ubiquitous nature within the environment, an invasive fungal infection (IFI) is a rare outcome that is often reserved for those patients who are immunocompromised. Given the potential for significant morbidity and mortality within this patient population from IFI due to Aspergillus spp., along with the rise in the use of therapies that confer immunosuppression, there is an increasing need for appropriate initial clinical suspicion leading to accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. Voriconazole remains the first line agent for therapy; however, the use of polyenes, novel triazole agents, or voriconazole in combination with an echinocandin may also be utilized. Consideration as to which particular agent and for what duration should be made in the individual context for each patient based upon underlying immunosuppression, comorbidities, and overall tolerance of therapy

Evolution of planetesimal velocities

A self-consistent set of equations for the velocity evolution of a general planetesimal population is presented. The equations are given in a form convenient for calculations of the early stages of planetary accumulation when it is necessary to model the planetesimal swarm by methods of gas dynamics, rather than follow the orbital evolution of individual bodies. Steady state velocities of a simple planetesimal population consisting of two different sizes of bodies are calculated. Dynamical friction is found to be an important mechanism for transferring kinetic energy from the larger planetesimals to the smaller ones. When the small planetesimals are relatively abundant, gas drag and inelastic collisions among the smaller bodies are of comparable importance for dissipating energy from the population

Intra-cavity spectroscopy using amplified spontaneous emission in fiber lasers

Fiber laser sources offer interesting possibilities for gas sensors since they can operate over an extended wavelength range, encompassing the near-IR absorption lines of a number of important gases but a major problem is that overtone absorption lines of gases in the near-IR are relatively weak. In order to enhance sensitivity, we present here a simple method of intra-cavity absorption spectroscopy (ICAS) which makes use of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) already present within a fiber laser cavity. The ASE also provides a convenient broadband source for the simultaneous interrogation of several gases within the gain-bandwidth of the fiber laser. The key principle is based on adjusting the cavity attenuation to select an appropriate inversion level where the fiber gain curve is flat. Under this condition, the ASE undergoes multiple circulations within the fiber laser cavity, enhancing the effective path-length of a gas cell placed within the laser cavity. A theoretical model of system operation is given and we have experimentally demonstrated the principle of operation with acetylene and carbon dioxide using a simple erbium fiber laser system containing a 6 cm path-length, fiber coupled, intra-cavity, micro-optic gas cell. We have experimentally simultaneously observed 16 absorption lines for 1% acetylene gas in the 1530 nm region and detected the very weak carbon dioxide lines in this same wavelength region. A path length enhancement of in the linear regime has been demonstrated transforming the 6 cm micro-optic cell into an effective path length of m. We also demonstrate how the enhancement factor may be calibrated by use of a simple fiber-optic interferometer. Apart from the OSA, all components are inexpensive and the system is very simple to construct and operate

Circular No. 37 - Field Beans

Tho a new crop in Utah, field beans promise to become of considerable importance. By this, it is not meant that Utah will soon be a leading bean-producing commonwealth. Nevertheless, the next few years will witness a rapid development of the bean-growing industry. Their leguminous characteristics make beans a valuable crop in rotation systems. This is particularly true now that the virgin condition of our soils will soon disappear where it has not already done so. Beans are adapted both to dry-farming and to irrigation; their growing season is relatively short, permitting the fall planting of wheat after their harvest; they require labor when our principal crops are not demanding it most strongly; finally, they are a high-yielding cash crop that can be handled almost entirely by machinery. All of these considerations are vital. There is not great danger of an immediate over-production of beans, and hence the likelihood of poor demand and low price is not menacing, for the present at least. Because meat and meat products become scarcer every year, their prices mount higher and higher. As a result, there is a growing demand for a source of cheaper protein foods. Beans and peas are about the only sources of such foods that can be developed with readiness. Beans are a major army food, because of their concentrated food values and because they are easily shipped. Pound for pound they are nearly as valuable as moot and do not demand such care in refrigeration and retailing. Beans can replace half--perhaps more--of meat in the diet and at much lower cost

Bulletin No. 184 - A Farm-Management Study of The Great Salt Lake Valley

This survey had for its purpose the study of farm organization in Great Salt Lake Valley. It is hoped that some conclusions may have been reached as to how to improve farming conditions. The records were taken during the summer of 1915 and consequently represent the farm business for 1914. Ordinarily the period of time that has elapsed since the records were taken would be too long to justify their being published. In view of the fact, however, that the World War began in 1914 and that its effects on the prices of farm products lasted until 1921, it is probable that the farm business of 1914 resembled that of 1922 more than it has that of any year since 1914. Prices and other conditions are much nearer their 1914 and 1915 level than they have been at any time since. It seems therefore wise to drop out of consideration the period of inflated prices between 1916 and 1921

Bulletin No. 176 - Potato Improvement by Hill Selection

Potatoes are such an important food and are grown on so many farms in Utah that any method of permanently improving the crop is highly desirable. Commercial producers can of course capitalize any practical method of potato improvement. This field of experimentation is not new, for many workers have attempted to improve the potato crop by selection. Success, however, has been neither uniform nor always appreciable; many of the experiments were of short duration, and many were not conducted on a sufficiently large scale to be good tests. It is apparent from this meager statement that the possibilities of potato selection are by no means exhausted. To select individual plants of good appearance and high yield is easy. To get a pedigreed strain that is not only a good yielder itself but that transmits the power of superior yield to. its off-spring is another question, and one of infinitely greater importance. It is on this problem that the tests here reported have bearing

Modern methods in the prevention of tuberculosis

1. Tuberculosis is almost world-wide in its distribution, occurs at all ages, and causes appalling mortality. 2. Tuberculosis causes great economic loss, as it especially occurs at the working age of life. 3. Tuberculosis is a specific infection, caused by the tubercle bacillis and is infectious, although not in all cases. 4. The disease in man can almost certainly be caused both by the human and bovine types of bacillus.. 5. Whitla and Symmers have produced pulmonary tuberculosis by ingestion of tuberculous material in animals. 6. The disease is rife in crowded cities, and especially in these districts which are densely populated. 7. Indoor occupations, especially those of a dusty nature, predispose to the disease. 8. Debility, malnutrition, exhaustion, venereal disease, infectious diseases of children, poverty and alcoholism, all play their part in lowering the resistance of the individual to the attack of the tubercle bacillus. 9. An infected milk-supply may cause tuberculosis, more especially "surgical tuberculosis" in children. 10. The disease is much more common in children than was formerly supposed. As regards legislation, the National Health Insurance Act of 1911, while providing for the treatment of cases of tuberculosis, is limited in scope. In order to stamp out tuberculosis the campaign against the disease must be world-wide, and methods of prevention must be both general and special. General: The more important points are:- 1. A non-tuberculous milk-supply. 2. Care of the children by means of: (a) Infant and Child Welfare schemes. (Some centres have established night nurseries for tuberculous contacts.) (b) Special care during the infectious illnesses of childhood. (c) School Medical Inspection. (d) Training of older children in the laws of hygiene, domestic economy and the general principles of nursing. 3. Provision of suitable houses for the working- classes, either by reconstruction of existing dwellings or the building of new houses. 4. Heightening of the general resistance of the individual by a campaign against poverty; Malnutrition, alcoholism and venereal disease (It has recently been shewn that 18% of the patients at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Consumption gave a positive Wasserrnann reaction). 5. Thorough ventilation of all work-places and free access to open spaces. Special Measures: The establishment of a co-ordinated anti-tuberculosis scheme in connection with every large centre of population

Circular No. 57 - Economy in Harvesting Sugar-Beets

During sugar-beet harvest the farmer has two big opportunities to increase his income from the beet crop. No great amount of extra labor is entailed in either case, and yet the profits are written in large figures. To neglect getting the most from beets at harvest time after a toilsome and expensive production seems wasteful. Farmers are urged to give full consideration to these two phases of beet harvest: (1) The making of beet-top silage from fresh beet tops. Large yields of good quality feed may thus be secured. (2) The preventing of losses in tonnage due to evaporation. Poor topping also causes heavy loss both to farmer and to factory

Correlated Inheritance in Wheat

Since the rediscovery of Mendel\u27s law in 1900, there have been many studies of inheritance in wheat. Of these rather numerous investigations, however, only a few have consisted of correlated studies of various characters on the same plant. Inheritance of awns and of spike density have received some attention but the studies have hardly more than indicated the problem. Both have been thought by some to be rather simple in their inheritance, and in some crosses without doubt such is the case, but lately there has come a recognition of considerable complexity. Density. As here used, density refers to compactness of the spike. Compact spikes have short rachis internodes and the spikelets are close together. Suc